Cinchona Thiourea Research Articles

Cinchona-Based Hydrogen-Bond Donor Organocatalyst Metal Complexes: Asymmetric Catalysis and Structure Determination.

In this study, we describe the synthesis of cinchona (thio)squaramide and a novel cinchona thiourea organocatalyst. These catalysts were employed in pharmaceutically relevant catalytic asymmetric reactions, such as Michael, Friedel-Crafts, and A3 coupling reactions, in combination with Ag(I), Cu(II), and Ni(II) salts. We identified several organocatalyst-metal salt combinations that led to a significant increase in both yield and enantioselectivity. To gain insight into the active catalyst species, we prepared organocatalyst-metal complexes and characterized them using HRMS, NMR spectroscopy, and quantum chemical calculations (B3LYP-D4/def2-TZVP), which allowed us to establish a structure-activity relationship.

Diastereodivergent synthesis of 4-oxocyclohexanecarbaldehydes by using the modularly designed organocatalysts upon switching on their iminium catalysis.

The cinchona thiourea moiety in the self-assembled modularly designed organocatalysts (MDOs) switches off the iminium catalysis of these catalysts. In this study, it was found that the inhibited iminium catalysis could be switched on by using an appropriate weak acid and that, once the iminium catalysis was switched on, these catalysts could be applied for the highly stereoselective and diastereodivergent synthesis of 4-oxocyclohexanecarbaldehydes via a domino reaction between ketones and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes.

Unraveling the Origin of Solvent Induced Enantioselectivity in the Henry Reaction with Cinchona Thiourea as Catalyst.

In this work, we report an energy decomposition and electronic structure analysis using DFT calculations for the C-C coupling step in the Henry reaction with cinchona thiourea as catalyst and DMF solvent to unravel the origin of enantioselectivity. We found that the conformation of flexible thiourea moiety is affected by the solvent, and in the preferred conformation of thiourea in strong Lewis basic DMF solvent, the N-H sites are in the opposite direction, i.e., in trans conformation. Hence, the thiourea moiety acts via single hydrogen bonding with substrates. The conformation of the substrates with respect to the forming C-C bond plays critical role to increase orbital interaction between two substrates and enhances hydrogen bond strength between substrates and catalyst, which in turn stabilizes the positive charge developing on the catalyst at the transition state for one of the enantiomers ( S). Thus, the enantioselectivity has electronic structure origin. The stronger H-bond formation in the S enantiomer has been confirmed by the calculated IR spectra and is in agreement with thus far experimental and computational results.

Mechanism and Origins of Stereoselectivity in the Cinchona Thiourea- and Squaramide-Catalyzed Asymmetric Michael Addition of Nitroalkanes to Enones.

We report density functional theory calculations that examine the mechanism and origins of stereoselectivity of Soós' landmark discovery from 2005 that cinchona thioureas catalyze the asymmetric Michael addition of nitroalkanes to enones. We show that the electrophile is activated by the catalyst's protonated amine and that the nucleophile binds to the thiourea moiety by hydrogen bonding. These results lead to the correction of published mechanistic work which did not consider this activation mode. We have also investigated the corresponding cinchona squaramide-catalyzed reaction and found that it proceeds by the same mechanism despite the differences in the geometry of the two catalysts' hydrogen-bond-donating groups, which demonstrates the generality of this mechanistic model.

Solvent induced enhancement of enantiomeric excess: a case study of the Henry reaction with cinchona thiourea as the catalyst

Enantiomeric excess (ee) in asymmetric catalysis may be strongly dependent on the solvent. The reaction product may range from an almost racemic mixture to an ee of over 90% for different solvents. We study this phenomenon for the C-C coupling reaction between nitromethane and benzaldehyde (the Henry reaction) with cinchona thiourea as the catalyst, where solvents that are strong Lewis bases induce a high ee. We show that the effect of the solvent does not consist of a change in the reaction mechanism. Instead, the solvation "prepares" the molecule, which is very flexible, in a specific conformation. The reaction barriers in this conformer are not lower than for other conformers, but are sufficiently differentiated between the enantiomers to give rise to a large ee. It is the strong Lewis basicity of the solvent that leads to the clear preference in solution for the "asymmetric" conformer. Although general rules or predictions for how solvent effects could be harnessed to produce a desired ee in general would be hard to formulate, this study does show that it is in this case (and presumably in many other cases as well) specific solute-solvent interactions rather than effects of the dielectric continuum of the solvent that are the root cause of the solvent effect. This is in agreement with experiment for the Henry reaction.

ChemInform Abstract: Catalytic Asymmetric Direct Vinylogous Michael Addition of γ‐Aryl‐Substituted Deconjugated Butenolides to Nitroolefins and N‐Phenylmaleimide.

AbstractReaction of γ‐butenolides (III) and (VI) with nitroolefins is carried out in the presence of the bifunctional cinchona thiourea derivative (I).

Theoretical study on the mechanism and stereochemistry of the cinchona–thiourea organocatalytic hydrophosphonylation of an α-ketoester

The mechanism and stereochemistry of the hydrophosphonylation of an α-ketoester with dimethylphosphonate (DMHP) catalyzed by a thiourea-cinchona organocatalyst have been studied by the ONIOM method. The calculations show that the catalytic cycle is a three-step process, including the deprotonation of DMHP, C-P bond formation via nucleophilic addition and proton transfer with the regeneration of the catalyst. The deprotonation of DMHP mediated by the basicity of the quinuclidine nitrogen atom is the rate-determining step for the entire reaction. The activation of the α-ketoester by the thiourea or protonated cinchona moiety of the bifunctional catalyst is comparatively investigated, and the former is energy-preferred. AIM combined with NBO analysis indicate that the multiple hydrogen bonds play essential roles in activating substrates, facilitating charge transfer and stabilizing transition states and intermediates. The stereochemistry of the reaction is controlled by the C-P bond formation step and originated from the chiral induction of the multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions. The bulkier substituent groups on the chiral scaffold of the catalyst may increase rigidity of the catalyst and the asymmetric induction to the substrates. The calculations predict that alkyl substituted α-ketoesters might also be converted to chiral α-hydroxyl phosphonates with high enantioselectivity.

Vinylogous Michael Addition Catalyzed by Cinchona Thiourea

Key words cinchona thioureas - Michael addition - alkylidene oxindoles - nitroolefins